The Last Companion
by Blinked310
Summary: Nelson, an ordinary man, has his life completely changed by a series of coincidental meetings with a man called only the Doctor.
1. The Doctor

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the TV show Doctor Who, its characters, or the universe it is set in, but I am writing a story based upon the fantastic world made by the show's creators.

1 – The Doctor

As I was wont to do on Saturdays, after my morning cuppa I went for a walk through a park a few blocks from my house. Although it wasn't a particularly large park, it was packed to the brim with trees, bushes, undergrowth, hills, trails to walk on, you name it and it was there, almost to the extent of being a forest in the middle of London. I came here every week because I liked hearing the birds sing, seeing the trees blow in the breeze, and enjoying the company of others that, like myself, appreciated life and nature.

Really, although on a much larger scale, that was the reason I had moved to London in the first place. I was born in California under the name Nelson Downs, and I had never really fit in. When I was twenty-five years old I had gone on vacation to London, and immediately I fell in love with the city, the people, and the lifestyle. A year and a half later, about eight months ago, I packed my bags and moved here. I've been very happy on the whole, but I haven't made any good friends yet, and sometimes I can start to feel quite lonely.

On this particular day during my walk, I didn't see a single other person. Usually there are at least two or three other people walking along the paths, but, although I thought it rather strange, I enjoyed my walk nonetheless. Just as I was turning around to head home, I heard two unfamiliar voices speaking with each other and getting closer. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but soon they had rounded a bend in the path around a dense cluster of bushes and trees and were in my line of sight, about ten feet away.

There were two of them, a man and a young woman. The man was tall, wearing a suit, and had untidy brown hair, while the woman was about a head shorter than he was with shoulder-length blonde hair. Neither saw me at first, as their conversation appeared to be rather involving, but when the woman glanced up she spotted me immediately.

"Doctor," she said, stopping suddenly. "Someone's here."

"What?" he said, looking up at me and squinting slightly. "Why wasn't he evacuated?"

"Excuse me," I said, walking towards them. "Did you say _evacuated?_"

"Blimey, how does he not know?" the man said amusedly, grinning slightly.

"Listen," the woman said urgently. "It's not safe here, the police have evacuated everyone in a five mile vicinity and surrounded the park, but they should let you out. You've got to go - quickly!"

I blinked, bewildered. "Why?" I asked. "What could there possibly be that's so dangerous in a park?"

"That," the woman said, nodding her head in the direction behind me.

I turned around and immediately recoiled in fright. "Ahh! What is it?"

The creature standing a few yards away from me was tall, very tall, fat, green, and had large bulbous black eyes. It also had a long neck, clawed hands, and appeared to be wearing some kind of device around its neck with a light on it that was both blinking rapidly and making a strange whirring sound.

"That," said the man, "is a Raxacoricofallapatorian. Well, it's a Slitheen. Well . . . It's the _last_ Slitheen."

I stared at him incredulously. "What!" I exclaimed.

"Stay out of this!" the creature snapped. "So, Doctor, you have come to kill the last member of the Slitheen family," it said, looking at the man.

"I don't want to kill you," he replied, stepping forward. All traces of a smile were gone now – he was dead serious. "I have a TARDIS, you know that. Let me take you somewhere you can be safe. Let me help you."

"I think not," the Slitheen, I think it was called, replied. "I know how you help us Slitheens. You tried to kill us all at 10 Downing Street, and you almost succeeded. Blon and I managed to escape, although separately and in such a way that she was unaware I had survived as well. I tried to contact her, but when I used my emergency teleport to escape it drained my communicator's power, leaving me isolated."

"Is that why the thing on your neck is blinking and making a funny noise?" I asked.

"It is kind of a funny noise, isn't it?" the man said, grinning suddenly.

"Yes, actually, it's so annoying to- I SAID STAY OUT OF THIS!" the Slitheen snarled at me. Pausing for a moment, it took a deep breath to calm itself, and then continued. "Anyways, I had just read that Blon was the mayor of Cardiff and was on my way there, but you beat me to it. You got there first, Doctor, and then you killed her. You killed Blon, just like the rest of my family!" it shouted angrily, glaring at the man.

"I did not kill her," the man insisted. "I gave her a chance to have a second life, a _better_ life. Let me do the same for you. Please, let me help you," he said.

"Oh, Doctor," the Slitheen mocked. "Do you really think I'm going to accept your help?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," the man said. "I'm giving you a choice. Will you let me help you?"

There was a pause. "No." In a flash of movement, the Slitheen reached up and pressed the screen of the device it wore around its neck and then, to my horror, began sprinting towards us on all fours. Suddenly, a bright light erupted from all around us, temporarily blinding me, and a roaring sound began to pass over our heads.

"Rose, now!" the man yelled.

"Get down!" the woman shouted, shoving me facedown to the ground. There was another flash of light, a sharp crack, and then the roaring sound faded and died. Shaking, I looked up, expecting to see a scene of utter destruction before me, and was surprised to find the park exactly as normal. There was no Slitheen, the birds were singing, and all of the usual people were walking tranquilly around the park. Indeed, aside from the man and woman still being here, the man now holding a large green egg, and myself being on the ground, everything was just as it always was.

"You can get up now, it's safe," the woman told me, offering her hand. I took it gratefully and, brushing the grass off my clothes, looked around once more.

"How can everything be back to normal?" I asked, stunned.

"Ehh, that's kind of difficult to explain," the man said.

"Are you going to try?"

"Well," he said slowly, thinking. "No." He grinned cheekily at me. "Allons-y!" The man beckoned to the woman to follow him and started walking away.

"Wait!" I said, not about to let them go without answering some questions first. "Who are you?"

The man turned around and started walking backwards. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler. Hello!" Having said this, he turned back around and continued to walk away.

"Yeah, you're a doctor, I caught that. But doctor who?" I yelled after them.

"Just the Doctor," the man called back. The Doctor, what a strange thing to be called without a name attached to it.

And then, making a comment I didn't catch, the Doctor and Rose Tyler laughed and walked around the corner again, leaving me alone.

..

**Author's Note: **I just wanted to say thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and that reviews are appreciated. Chapter 2 should be coming soon!


	2. A Second Meeting

**Disclaimer: **The only thing here that I claim ownership to is the plot, the hope that I get reviews, and, of course, Nelson. He belongs to ME.

**Author's Note: **I'm hoping that the length of this chapter will be close to the regular length, just to give you an idea. Also, I'm going to make a pronunciation key when I invent words so you know how to say them, because I'm just that helpful. ;)

**Pronunciation Key:** Reuxar = rukes-are, Lirequen = lire-kwen, Nostinar = self explanatory.

2 – More than just a Bystander

It felt like it was a long time before I saw the Doctor again, but really only a month or two had passed. I still wanted answers about what had happened with the Slitheen incident because, no matter whom I asked, not a single other person remembered being evacuated or even being absent from the park earlier that day. I also contacted the police, but they didn't know what I was talking about either, until finally someone thought that I had crossed the line from quirky to insane and mentioned me to their psychiatrist friend. Apparently, when Dr. Steinman had heard that I was talking nonsense about aliens in the park, he'd insisted on having an appointment made for me.

I was pretty annoyed at having to do this, but nevertheless I arrived at Dr. Steinman's office at the arranged time. Strangely, there wasn't anyone in the front room, and the door to his office was ajar. I swung the door open wider and saw, rather to my astonishment, that the Doctor was sitting behind the desk and rummaging through a drawer.

"You're Dr. Steinman?" I gasped.

"What? Oh, no, I'm the Doctor, not, uh, Dr. Steinman," the Doctor replied, pausing frequently as he dug around the back of a particularly interesting drawer. "Did you have an appointment, then?" he asked vaguely.

"Do you not remember me?" I asked, disappointed.

The Doctor looked up from what he was doing for the first time and, peering over his glasses, a look of recognition appeared on his face. "Oh," he exclaimed happily. "Hello. Sorry for interrupting your therapeutic, uh, therapy."

"Where's Dr. Steinman?" I asked, stepping into the room and closing the door as the Doctor continued whatever he was doing.

"Dr. Steinman, or rather, Reuxar, is rather indisposed at the moment. And leave the door open slightly – the Lirequen start to smell _very_ badly if there's not a constant flow of air."

"Oh, right," I said, opening the door again. "But what do you mean by 'Dr. Steinman is indisposed at the moment?'" As I arrived at the desk, I understood what the Doctor meant. Reuxar, I suppose I should call him, was sprawled facedown on the floor behind his desk, and he appeared to be quite unconscious. "What happened?" I gasped, horrified.

"Sodium chloride, it was in his tea. Knocked him out cold."

"Why would salt in his tea knock him out? And what's a Lirequen?"

"He's a Lirequen," the Doctor said absently, studying a document he had found.

"What about my first question?"

"Same answer," he replied.

"Wait, do you mean to say that Dr. Steinman is an _alien?_ And did you put him on the floor?" I asked indignantly.

"Yes, to both of you're questions, actually. And his name is Reuxar, please use it," the Doctor said. "Dr. Steinman is too . . . Too . . ."

"Too what?"

"It's not too normal, no no no, that's not it. It's not . . . Well, it's not exactly _abnormal_ either, so what is it?" the Doctor mused, getting more and more agitated. "Steinman isn't a wibbly-wobbly sort of name, it's more like being really stubborn, but not so rebellious. Do you know what it is?"

"Uhh . . . Professional?" I ventured.

The Doctor froze, looking excited. "Ohhh, yes, the name Steinman is too professional, brilliant!" he exclaimed, jumping up out of his seat in excitement. "Intuitive, too, because Reuxar is _far_ from professional, just a-"

"Doctor!" I heard a female voice call. As the Doctor darted around me to the door I turned around, expecting to see Rose, and was quite surprised when instead a dark woman with black hair came running into the room.

"I found it in his car under the seat," she explained triumphantly, handing him a file. Flipping it open, the Doctor scanned the first page excitedly.

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed, turning to the next page and reading it intently. Just as I was about to ask what he was doing, I noticed that the new woman was staring at me inquisitively.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Nelson," I replied somewhat defensively. "Who are you?"

"I'm Martha, Martha Jones. I'm travelling with the Doctor."

"Oh, well, I just ran into him."

"Here?" Martha asked. "You were meeting with Reuxar?"

"I was not meeting with him!" I exclaimed indignantly. "Okay, I guess I was, but I didn't even want to come," I amended. "He wanted to see me."

"He wanted to see you?" the Doctor repeated, stuffing the file inside his suit. "Why? Why did Reuxar want to see you?"

I coughed. "Well," I said. "That would be because no one remembered the incident with the Slitheen and I, ah, asked around about it. A lot."

"You mean you've met the Doctor before?" Martha asked.

"Oh." The Doctor paused, not seeming to have heard what Martha said. "Well then, allons-y!" he exclaimed suddenly. Without saying another word, he dashed from the room, Martha right behind him. Not expecting their sudden exit, it took me a moment to realize that the Doctor and Martha were gone.

"Wait!" I called, running out the door after them. When I got out to the street I saw that they had a good head start on me, but I was a fast runner, so I was able to keep them in my line of sight. Just as I had run into an alley behind them, however, I noticed that the door of a blue police box closed suddenly and that my two friends, I guess you could call them, were gone. Could they possibly both be crammed in there? That would be strange.

Cautiously, I approached the police box, wary of anything . . . suspicious. Everything seemed all right, though, so I swung the door open, and- oh my gosh, everything was bigger on the inside! Not only that, there was a large column of what appeared to be glass in the middle of the massive room I was now inside of, and there was a console around its base that was absolutely covered with knobs, levers, and screens. This was, quite obviously, alien technology.

"No. Way," I said, awestruck. I backed out of the police box and placed a hand on it cautiously. It really did feel like wood. "No way," I repeated, walking around the outside. Amazed, I pushed the door open and entered the impossibly large space once more. "No way!" I told the Doctor.

"Welcome to the TARDIS," he replied, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Yes, it _is_ bigger on the inside, there _is_ a swimming pool-"

"And a library," Martha interjected.

"_And,_" the Doctor said importantly, obviously going for a dramatic effect. "It travels through time and space."

"Okay," I laughed. "I'm hooked!"

"He has that effect on people," Martha said affectionately.

"Now!" the Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Reuxar, as I've told you, is a Lirequen," he said to me. "Lirequen are like little lizards that live underwater. Well, not necessarily under _water_, more like, underneath the surface of a liquid. Their home planet is basically one big ocean, but it's getting overcrowded. They've started sending scouts out to find other planets suitable for colonization. Usually the scouts have to hide during this process, but not on Earth. Because the human body is about sixty percent water, it's very easy for them to find their way to the brain and take control, killing the human in the process but giving them the perfect disguise."

"Earth is an ideal planet for them to colonize," Martha chipped in. "Because there's already so much water on the Earth's surface, they only need to add a relatively small amount to cover the continents."

"But, because they only want to import as much water as they _absolutely need_, what would be the first step of colonization?" the Doctor asked me.

"Well, if it were me, I'd melt the polar ice caps, but that would require too much heat to be plausible," I said after a moment of thought.

"It's very plausible, actually," the Doctor replied. "For the Lirequen, melting the ice caps is no problem. The engines their ships use generate heat, _lots_ of it. They're able to keep it bottled up for a while, but when they arrive at their destination, they have to siphon it off somewhere. Usually it goes out into space, but this time, it will undoubtedly be aimed at the polar ice caps."

"We've got to do something, then!" I gasped, horrified.

"We already are," the Doctor replied. "Think about it."

"Well . . . Reuxar, you said that he's a Lirequen, so he must be the scout that came to Earth," I reasoned.

"Good," the Doctor said. "Go on."

"The way I see it, we could try to reason with him to leave Earth alone, we could try to redirect the heat away from the Earth, although that's more of a temporary solution, or we could, I dunno, fight them?"

"Brilliant!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"You mean I was right?" I asked, impressed with myself.

"Not even close," the Doctor said. "I just had an idea, and if I say so myself, it is genius!"

"Well?" Martha prompted.

"If we can fool the Lirequen into going to the wrong planet, one that's dry, _very_ dry, and get them to think that that's the one Reuxar was talking about, they'll have no interest in it and leave without ever so much as seeing the Earth!"

I paused, taken aback. "Wow, that's actually a really good idea," I said.

"Hold on. Doctor, you told me you already had a plan when we broke into Reuxar's office," Martha accused.

"I did have a plan," the Doctor defended himself. "I was going to break into Reuxar's office, that's a plan."

"Oh, I see, and then you wanted to know if I had any good ideas before you wasted time figuring out what to do!" I joined in, laughing at the look on the Doctor's face. "Anyways, I guess I'll let you two get to work," I said, making as if to leave.

"You mean you don't want to come with us?" the Doctor asked.

I froze, hardly believing my luck. "I can come with you?"

"Of course you can," Martha said. "The Doctor wouldn't just leave you after you get involved in whatever trouble he's gotten himself into."

After a quick glance over at the Doctor for confirmation and receiving a nod, I broke out into a grin. "Sure. Sure, I'll come along."

Hardly a moment had passed before the Doctor suddenly threw a lever on the TARDIS' console and everything began to shake. Inside of the glass column, what I had previously thought were artistically placed small glass tubes began to rise and fall, and an indescribable and unique sound filled the room. After perhaps thirty seconds of this, the glass tubes became still and the noise slowly faded.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Go and see," the Doctor told me.

In my excitement I practically ran to the door, my anticipation building, and I threw it wide open. The smile slid off my face, and confusion replaced excitement.

"Doctor," I called over my shoulder. "I think someone's been messing with the TARDIS. It's about ten feet away from where it was a few minutes ago."

"What?" the Doctor said, dashing over to the door and looking out. "Oh. Whoops," he said, slamming the door shut and dashing away. He started running around the console again, messing with the controls, before hitting a panel with a rubber mallet and throwing the lever again. Everything started to shake once more, and when it had subsided, the Doctor nodded outside again.

Not nearly as excited this time, I walked over to the door and swung it open. "Hey, cool, we've moved!" I said, impressed but not awestruck.

"'Hey, cool, we've moved?'" the Doctor repeated. "That's it?"

"Yeah. You know, the first time around it didn't occur to me that that was how you traveled through time and space, just by those glass tubes rising and falling and a strange noise, but by the time I opened the door just now, I'd pretty much figured it out."

"A 'strange noise?'" the Doctor repeated again, scandalized.

"Strange, but pretty awesome," I replied.

"Fine," he said, partially satiated. Pushing past me, he hopped out of the TARDIS and right onto the floor of the dark, dank sewer we'd just travelled into. From what I could tell, we were right beneath a manhole cover and there were two passages we could take, one to the left and one to the right.

"Why are we in a sewer?" Martha asked as she exited the TARDIS, following me out. "What's down here?"

"If the file you found isn't filling us with nasty lies, and I don't think that it is, then we're here to change Reuxar's transmission," the Doctor explained, peering down the passage to the right.

"What transmission?" I asked, following the Doctor's gaze and seeing nothing unusual. Then again, this is my first time to frequent a sewer system, so I could just be missing something.

"Right, sorry, I forgot to tell you that. When a Lirequen has found a suitable planet, he builds a transmitter in a place that it isn't likely to be found and sets it to transmit the planet's coordinates. The Lirequen ships that bring the water are set to travel to the transmission's coordinates – even if they were to be changed mid-flight," the Doctor explained.

"Won't the Lirequen just track the signal's location once they arrive at the coordinates and find that it's the wrong planet?" I asked.

"Good. You're thinking along the right track, but no, they won't do that. This way," the Doctor said, starting to walk down the left passage. "Frequently, when a Lirequen scout finds a suitable planet, they'll leave for another planet before setting up the transmitter. It depends on personal preference, but, because the location of the transmitter isn't regulated, there isn't a protocol for tracking the signal."

"What about Reuxar?" Martha asked. "Won't he be able to change the coordinates back to Earth?"

"Yes," the Doctor said. "Yes, he could. We're here."

"This is the transmitter room?" I asked, disappointed. The room was circular, barely lit by a sewer drain, just as damp and slimy as you'd expect a sewer to be, and there was a device that I assumed was the transmitter sitting on the floor. The device was a little box, maybe one foot by one foot, with a two-foot pole sticking out of it and a concave satellite looking gismo at the top. Not particularly impressive.

"It's not a transmitter room," the Doctor said. "It's just a room in a sewer that the transmitter is set up in. Nothing fancy, just obscure enough to remain undiscovered."

"Until now," a deep, pleasant voice cut in from the shadows across the room from us.

"Oh, you're here," the Doctor said cheerfully. "Come on out."

"I will, thank you," the voice replied, and Reuxar, my would-be psychiatrist, stepped into the dim light. "You missed your appointment. When would you like to reschedule for?" he asked me, a smile on his face.

"Hold on, let me check my book. Maybe in six billion years?" I suggested sarcastically.

"No, you're going to want to schedule something sooner," the Doctor said conversationally. "Unless you're planning on moving to another planet."

I stared at him. "What?"

"Well, you know, the Earth is going to be destroyed in five billion years, so you might want to either schedule something earlier or make moving plans." He smiled helpfully.

"The Earth is going to be destroyed in five. Billion. Years," I repeated flatly.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied, looking excited. "It was brilliant. First adventure with Rose," he reminisced.

"Oh, really," Martha said, huffing slightly. The Doctor didn't seem to notice and, surprisingly, Reuxar didn't seem to mind our tangent.

"So, what have you got here, eh?" the Doctor said to himself as he walked up and crouched next to Reuxar's device, examining it. "Let's see . . . Well that's unusual . . . And what's this? But that . . . This is just a normal radio transmitting into space!" he exclaimed.

"Yes," Reuxar replied serenely. "It is just a normal radio."

Whipping out some sort of cylindrical metal device, the Doctor held down a button on it and started running it up and down the length of the transmitter.

"What's that?" I asked.

"My sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replied. Just as he said this, I heard the opening beats of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army start to play from the transmitter and he sat back, having accomplished what I assumed he wanted to.

_'I'm gonna fight 'em off,' _I heard the song play. '_A seven nation army couldn't hold me back.'_ Just as Jack White was about to sing the next words to the song, it stopped and then started over. '_I'm gonna fight 'em off . . . A seven nation army couldn't hold me back.'_

"Why is it repeating?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor replied. "Care to tell us?" he asked Reuxar.

"No, no not really," he replied.

_'I'm gonna fight 'em off . . .'_

"Well then someone please turn it off," Martha said.

_'A seven nation army couldn't hold me back . . .'_

"It's getting repetitive," she added.

"No, turning it off gets us nowhere," the Doctor said. "Remember, we can't just stop Reuxar, we have to stop the water carriers."

"But that's not transmitting coordinates," Martha argued. "It's just a song. It must be a dummy transmitter, and the real one is somewhere else."

"Bravo, Ms. Jones, bravo," Reuxar said, clapping his hands slowly. "Well, you've caught me. I'll just languish here in a corner listening to the first twenty seconds of the same song over and over again," he taunted, throwing his hands over his face in a gesture of mock despair.

"No, this is the real transmitter," the Doctor said, ignoring Reuxar. "The coordinates must be contained in the song somehow."

_'A seven nation army couldn't hold me back . . .'_

"As amusing as this has been, it's time for you to leave, Doctor," Reuxar said, dropping his pose and spitting out the last word.

"Or what?" the Doctor asked, standing up. As a reply, Reuxar reached into his suit and withdrew an alien looking gun of some sort. I noticed that the Doctor tensed his muscles ever so slightly, as if he was getting ready for a quick movement.

_'I'm gonna fight 'em off . . .'_

Trying to be subtle, I rested my hand momentarily on the dirty sewer wall behind me and withdrew a handful of slime. I was so focused on Reuxar, I didn't even hear anything sneaking up on us.

"Doctor!" Martha yelled, having turned around and seen another man, presumably a Lirequen, sneaking up the passage behind us. The Doctor spun around to face the new threat just as Reuxar raised his gun, preparing to shoot. Moving so fast I surprised myself, I hurled the slime in my hand at him, causing his aim to falter and the bright green laser-bolt to go flying over the Doctor's head.

_'A seven nation army couldn't hold me back . . .'_

The Doctor, a very exposed target to the second Lirequen, dove to the side and came up at a crouch, pointing his screwdriver at Reuxar's gun and holding down the button. When Reuxar took aim at the Doctor to fire again, the gun sparked, as if it were disabled, and the slime I'd thrown ignited, causing a very small explosion that threw Martha and I to the floor. The second Lirequen advanced into the room, trying to get a clear shot, and, just as he was about to fire at me, the Doctor tackled him. I pushed myself up and ran over, kicking the gun out of its grasp and trying to pin its arms to its sides. During our struggle, the Doctor managed to grab a stone and hit the Lirequen on the head with it. Immediately, it fell limp.

"Did you kill it?" I panted heavily, sitting back on the floor.

"No," the Doctor replied, also panting and sitting back. "Just knocked it out."

"Who is it, Reuxar's partner?" Martha asked, limping over.

"Must've been. Are you hurt?" he asked, seeing her limp.

"Just singed," she replied. "My leg is starting to hurt, though, so if you don't mind, I'm going to head back to the TARDIS and get the first aid kit."

"Okay," the Doctor said. "Do you remember where it is?"

"Of course," Martha replied, limping back into the passage.

"Do you think she thought you were asking if she remembered where the first aid kit was, or where the TARDIS was?" I asked when she was gone.

"I guess when we get back and see if she's in the TARDIS we'll know," the Doctor commented. I chuckled.

_'I'm gonna fight 'em off . . .'_

"So, how do the first two lines of Seven Nation Army contain the Earth's coordinates?" I asked.

"Well," the Doctor replied. "That is . . . a very good question, actually."

"Thanks. I mean, if there's only two lines, how could that include all you need to know to find a location in a three dimensional plane?" I said.

"A very complicated two dimensional model," the Doctor replied. "I bet they're using the syllables."

I did a quick count. "So that would be six syllables in the first line, and then twelve syllables in the second."

"Ooh, they're both divisible by six, I _love_ those numbers!" the Doctor exclaimed. "And, using the Lirequen coordinate system . . ." he paused for a moment, thinking. "Yes! It works - those are the coordinates for Earth! And, I know just the song for the planet I want to redirect them to."

After running his sonic screwdriver along the length of the transmitter again, I heard a new song come on.

"No," I gasped, horrified.

"What? It's a good song," the Doctor replied.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

_'Make your own kind of music . . .'_

"It's got the right number of syllables, what am I supposed to do?"

_'Sing your own kind of song . . .'_

"Well turn it off before it starts repeating!" I exclaimed.

"How do you even know that song? A little before your time, isn't it?" the Doctor asked, disabling the sound.

"Oh, I heard a remix of it on this TV show, Lost. There's a guy named Desmond, and he's in this hatch underground, and, well, he's listening to it. It's a lot cooler than it sounds," I added.

"No, I love hatches," the Doctor said. "Well, we're good to go now."

"What about Reuxar's partner?" I asked, indicating the unconscious man on the floor.

"Nostinar - he's not a threat, don't worry. Reuxar and he are ex-criminals, and they were sentenced to find twenty four suitable planets to colonize as punishment. Before he realizes what's happened, the Lirequen will have arrived at the loveliest and driest planet they've ever seen! After that they'll completely disregard whatever Nostinar says. He'll lose all credibility, as well he should. You have no idea how many household trinkets he and Reuxar stole in their day. Couldn't have held onto a clock for more than an hour or two," the Doctor explained.

I laughed as the Doctor and I got to our feet and slowly started walking back to the TARDIS. After a minute or two of silence, I spoke up again.

"Doctor," I said. "Can I ask a question?"

"Sure."

"What happened to Rose?"

I heard him swallow as we kept walking. I couldn't see his face, but I knew that I had brought up a painful topic.

"I lost her," he said finally. "Right at the end of the Battle of Canary Wharf. Just before we had won, she-" The Doctor stopped suddenly.

"Did she die?" I asked gently.

"No," the Doctor replied. "But she's trapped in a parallel universe. With her family. She's safe and will live her life, but . . ." There was a brief pause. "I'll never see her again."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Yeah." I heard the Doctor sniff slightly as he regained his composure.

The moment we got back to the TARDIS, the Doctor perked up to his usual self and dashed around the controls, hitting things with the rubber mallet again and throwing more levers. Thirty seconds later and I was walking out the door and into a beautiful sunny day, the Doctor and Martha right behind me.

"At least it's better than a sewer," I joked. "I guess I should get home, then," I added, more serious.

"If you want, you can stick with us for a bit longer," the Doctor offered casually.

I smiled. "Thanks, seriously, but I'm going to have to turn you down. I'm still trying to convince myself that the past three hours actually happened and wasn't just a very crazy daydream!" I laughed. "Next time you're around, though, let me know. I think I'll be ready for another adventure by then!"

"Okay," the Doctor said, holding out his hand. I shook it, and then he turned and walked back into the TARDIS.

"Goodbye, then," Martha said, holding out her hand too.

"Yeah, see you, Martha," I said, shaking it. "Keep out of trouble."

"Not a chance," she laughed, also turning and entering the TARDIS.

I started to leave, but I stopped when I heard the very unique noise that I knew would have me come running if I ever heard it again. Savoring the sound, I turned just as it faded and saw that the police box was gone. Smiling, I headed for home.

Until the next time, Doctor.


	3. Everybody Lives!

**Disclaimer: **I'm writing this story purely for enjoyment, and I do not profit from it, nor do I own Doctor Who.

**Author's Note: **Haha, 10,000 words in three chapters! Anyways, this chapter is a little bit different than the last one because its purpose is mostly to show Nelson that the Doctor's adventures doesn't always end in violence and to make the plot a little bit more complicated. I hope you enjoy it!

**Pronunciation Key: **Vukanian = voo-cane-ian, Pjhalinad = puh-hall-in-odd

3 – Everybody Lives!

About three weeks had passed since the Doctor, Martha, and I had saved the world from Lirequen colonization when I saw the Doctor again. It was in the early afternoon, right after I got out of my job working at a library and was heading home on a bus. I had only been on it for about five minutes when it made a stop and I heard a very familiar sound as the doors opened. I couldn't quite place it at first, but I realized what it was just as I saw the Doctor flipping his sonic screwdriver into the air and catching it as he stepped onto the bus.

"Over here!" I called, waving to him.

"Hello, Nelson," he said, grinning as he made his way over to me.

"Hello, Doctor," I replied, startled that he knew my name. I had told Martha what my name was while he was in the room, but I didn't think the Doctor had heard. "I heard your screwdriver a moment ago. Are you doing anything interesting?" I asked.

"Oh, you know, just looking around,"

"For what?"

"I dunno," the Doctor said, sighing slightly. "Whatever catches my eye, I suppose. What are you doing?"

"I just got out of work, so I'm heading home," I replied. "Where's Martha at?"

"She's with her family. We just had a, uh, a difficult year, and she's taking some time off."

"A year? Wow, it's only been a few weeks for me."

"Well," the Doctor said, looking like he wasn't particularly enjoying the topic we were on. "It kind of never happened. The Earth was sort of taken over, but we reversed everything, so you wouldn't remember it. For various reasons," he added.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked, curious.

"Nope," he said.

"Fair enough," I replied. "Well then, may I join you on your great search for something interesting?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor grinned. "Although, err, how many times have we met?"

I stared at him incredulously. "This is the third time," I replied. "Do you not remember?"

"I'm a time traveler," he replied indignantly. "I can't keep everyone's timeline straight. The TARDIS is suppose to have a record of those things that makes a noise kind of like an elephant when I'm getting something out of order, but I had to reroute its power to get the second arcade working properly."

"That's great and all, but how many times have _you_ met _me_?" I asked, ignoring everything else he had just said.

"More than three times," the Doctor replied, grinning at my expression. "Allons-y!" he exclaimed suddenly as the bus stopped and he dashed out the door. Although this surprised me less than the last time the Doctor ran off, I still wasn't fast enough to fight the incoming crowd and get off the bus in time.

"Hey! Uh, excuse me, can you open the door again, that was my stop," I told the driver as the doors closed and the bus pulled away from the curb.

"Sorry," the driver replied. "But the next stop is just a few blocks from here."

I shrugged at the Doctor through the glass door and, in response, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and opened it from a distance. Before the driver could close it again, I hopped out and started running towards the curb. As I ran I checked for any cars, but I didn't notice a little Fiat rounding a bend coming straight at me until it was too late to get out of the way.

"Woah, woah, woah!" I shouted in a panic, stumbling backwards and holding my hands out as if to stop the oncoming vehicle.

"Nelson!" I heard the Doctor yell.

Closing my eyes, I turned my head away from the incoming car and- nothing. After another second had passed, I opened my eyes but couldn't see where it had gone. Quickly, before I got in the way of even more traffic, I jogged over to the curb and let out a breath.

"Whew," I commented to the Doctor as he walked up. "I thought I was a goner there."

"I did too, until the car disappeared," he replied, a suspicious note in his voice.

"I know, I didn't see where it went either," I said, totally missing the Doctor's tone.

"No, it literally vanished right before it hit you," the Doctor told me. "The question is, where did it go?" During a lull in the flow of cars, he ran out to where the car had disappeared at and took a very, very deep breath. Frowning, he waved his sonic screwdriver around, listened to the sounds it made, and then took another deep breath before dashing out of the street.

"Find anything?" I asked, deciding not to comment on the Doctor's rather unusual methods.

"No," he replied, looking disappointed. "There are too many mixed signals here, I need to find a more isolated incident."

"How do you plan to do that?" I asked.

.

"That is _never_ going to fit," I stated incredulously.

"Of course it is," the Doctor replied, totally not worried about it. We were standing inside the TARDIS control room, which was parked just outside Martha's parents' house, and the Doctor was having a tough time convincing me that a little Mini Coupe, the smallest car he could find in the TARDIS' garage, could fit through the door. We had already taken off the side-view mirrors, but I was still skeptical. "Oh, come on, let's give it a try," he said, bouncing around slightly.

"Okay, fine," I said, resisting a smile but caving into the Doctor's excitement. "Let's at least get it lined up with the door first." This proved to be quite a hassle. The tank was out of gas, so we had to push it, but neither the Doctor nor I could push it forward on our own, and one of us still had to use the steering wheel to get it lined up. In the end, I had to do a lot of running back and forth until finally everything was ready. Slowly we pushed it through the TARDIS doors until, with a great heave, the car finally rolled outside into the open for the first time in who knows how long.

"Molto bene!" the Doctor exclaimed, running after it and jumping up onto the roof, holding his arms out in triumph.

"Oi! What are you doing out there!" I heard Martha exclaim, sticking her head out of a window but not seeing me.

"I got a car out from the garage," he replied, grinning widely.

Martha grinned back and closed the window just as I followed the Doctor out to the car at a much slower pace.

"Please, don't even mention that I helped," I laughed.

"This isn't a time for credit-giving," the Doctor said, sliding down off the car and hopping into the driver's seat. "This is a time for . . . for . . ."

"Crashing cars?"

"Yes! Well, no. Not if it vanishes. Oh, this is going to be brilliant!"

"It still needs gas," I reminded him, watching as the Doctor's face fell.

.

"_Now_ this is going to be brilliant!" the Doctor said again. The car was now refueled and in position, about thirty feet away from a stack of bricks we had erected quickly after driving a small ways out of the city. It wasn't particularly high, or even held together by mortar, but if the car crashed into it, it would be badly damaged.

"Ready?" the Doctor asked.

"Ready," I answered. Looking excited, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to turn on the car and drive it forward until, just before it hit the brick wall, the car vanished in a rapidly disappearing puff of blue powder. Quickly, the Doctor ran over and took another deep breath, looking much more satisfied than last time. Taking a quick scan of the area with his screwdriver, he nodded to himself and murmured something I didn't catch.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Plasma residue, static electricity, and," he took another sniff, "a whiff of Vukanian air molecules."

"And that means what in layman's terms?" I prompted.

"The car has been teleported by aliens," the Doctor replied.

"That's bad, isn't it?"

"Well . . . I dunno."

"You what?"

"Is it really so hard to believe that I don't know everything?" the Doctor asked indignantly.

"Right, sorry. But if any car that's about to crash is teleported by an alien species, that means the drivers are too. So people are essentially being saved . . . By being kidnapped," I said.

"Possibly," he replied. "Back to the TARDIS!" This time when the Doctor started running away, hardly a moment had gone by before I was chasing after him.

"Now, let's see where that Vuke ship is," the Doctor panted once we staggered back into the TARDIS, exhausted from the very long run back into the city.

"Maybe," I began to say, also panting. "Maybe we shouldn't drive out into the countryside without the TARDIS only to proceed to try and crash the car we drove there in."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed. "That would be a good idea." Staring intently at the console screen, he started twisting some knobs around and a bunch of letters in some sort of alien language flashed across the screen. "Aha!" he exclaimed. "One Vukanian ship, orbiting the Earth. What did I tell you?"

"Allons-y?" I prompted.

"Oh yes!" he replied, dashing around the console and pressing the controls. The TARDIS was set into motion, and just moments later we landed on an alien spaceship. I was pretty excited.

"So, this is your first time off Earth," the Doctor realized as we stood at the TARDIS doors.

"Yeah, that's pretty much correct," I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the next in anticipation.

"You're gonna love it," he replied, a wistful expression on his face. "I can still remember when I left Gallifrey for the first time."

"Gallifrey?"

"My home planet. I suppose I should probably mention, I'm an alien," the Doctor said casually.

"You're what?" I exclaimed. I really shouldn't have been all that shocked, to be honest, but it's not everyday that you're told that someone you know is an alien.

"Over nine hundred years old, too."

"_What!_"

"Yup," he said. "Now, shall we go talk to the Vukanians?"

"Of course!" I grinned.

Grinning back, the Doctor swung open the TARDIS door and my jaw dropped as I stepped into one of the most awe-inspiring rooms I've ever been in. First of all, it was massive, and one of the walls was made entirely of glass. The other three walls were a soothing dark blue color, and the room was nicely illuminated by Earthlight, which could be clearly seen outside the glass wall. The wall opposite the glass one had pillars lining it at intervals of fifteen feet or so with intricate designs carved into the wood-like material, and there were multiple tapestries hung from the ceiling that seemed to depict the growth of an alien child into some sort of ruler.

As much as I did understand, there were many more things in the room that I couldn't even begin to comprehend, including some kind of rug that appeared to be alive and was making its way slowly around the room, and also quite a few paintings that showed very strange and somewhat paradoxical geometric shapes. The furnishings made more sense, and seemed to be everything needed for a simple, yet very comfortable, lifestyle, although I didn't see anything that looked like a kitchen. It was mostly couches and tables with various kinds of alien board and card games. On the other side of the room, I saw a group of four or five various alien species playing one of the games and being watched by a much smaller, humanoid alien whose skin color closely matched that of the room, and it seemed to be talking about the game to an older member of its species.

"Woah," I said in awe, trying to take it all in. Every few seconds, though, I found myself staring out the glass wall at the Earth. It was such an incredible feeling to view the Earth from orbit I had a hard time tearing my gaze away, even in the midst of such alien and beautiful architecture.

"That's a, uh, geosynchronous orbit, isn't it?" I asked the Doctor, walking over to the glass and indicating the Earth.

"Ooh, yes, it is. Hey, look, we're right over London," he exclaimed happily, walking next to me and pointing.

"Hello, and welcome to the living quarters of Prince Pjhalinad the third," I heard a serene voice say from behind us. Jumping, I turned around and saw that the older humanoid alien talking to the younger one earlier had approached us unseen. Now that it was closer I could see it better, and, although its basic appearance was similar to that of a human's, its skin was more reptilian in make, as it seemed to have scales, and its mouth was slightly wider. It also made a slight hissing noise when it spoke, and it was slightly taller than I was. "I am the Prince's supervisor. Would you like to request an audience?" it asked pleasantly.

"I don't think that's necessary," the Doctor said, seeming to be enjoying the experience as much as I was, which surprised me. I was expecting him to be used to this kind of thing and act more nonchalant about it. "We were just wondering about the disappearing cars."

"Of course," the Supervisor said. "Please, sit down."

I was slightly suspicious of sitting on alien furniture, but the Doctor happily collapsing on one of the couches assuaged my distrust enough for me to accept the considerate offer.

"Now," the Supervisor said, still standing and making no move to sit. "What would you like to know about the disappearing vehicles?"

"Oh, you know . . . Pretty much all of it," the Doctor said.

"Very well – I shall start at the beginning," the Supervisor said. "The Prince's father, Emperor Pjhalinad the second, is going to go into retirement in seven-hundred years and has decided that his heir shall begin his training to rule. Part of this training involves possessing some influence over a planet for a several of your Earth years before moving on to bigger things. During this time, the Prince has been creating subtle policies for the Earth, guided by myself, in an attempt to better it during our stay."

"What's the point of that if you're only around for a couple of years?" I asked.

"The point is to learn from humanity's response to the policy, good or bad, and therefore become a better future ruler, not just for the Vukanian Empire, but for all races," the Supervisor replied.

"It's like a simulator," the Doctor realized, grinning. "A ruling simulator."

"Yes," the Supervisor confirmed.

"And stopping the cars from crashing – is that one of, uh, Pjhalinad's policies?" I inquired, fascinated by this whole conversation.

"It is."

"But where do they go? What happens to those cars?" the Doctor asked.

"The vehicles and their occupants are safely transported to their desired destination. In the cases of which there is no destination, they go to the location that the vehicle is stored in," the Supervisor explained.

"So what's been 'humanity's reaction' to being transported around?" I asked.

"The policy has been widely explained away. Almost every single human affected has decided they have suffered some sort of amnesia or else passed out and their vehicle had been towed," the Supervisor said.

"Brilliant," the Doctor said as we both stood. "I look forward to the days of Prince Pjhalinad the third's rule - it will be a great time for the Vukanian Empire."

"Thank you – I will pass on what you have said to the Prince," the Supervisor said, bowing slightly to us. Grinning, the Doctor and I bowed back and left, heading for the TARDIS.

"So that's it?" I asked, once we were back inside the now familiar ship. "There's nothing that needs to be done?"

"Nope," the Doctor said. "The Vukanians are a peaceful species that wouldn't let any of the Prince's policies do Earth any harm, and Pjhalinad will grow up to be a brilliant king. The Vukanians aren't so different from human beings, really. You both have the same determination to explore, the same desire to learn about the universe around you. It's amazing the things humanity and Vukanians will accomplish in several thousand years – a great alliance will form that brings peace to many, a just force in a universe of cruelty. There will be mistakes, terrible mistakes, but," he grinned. "A way will always be found."

"Wow," I said, impressed by the Doctor's speech about, essentially, the beauty of harmony between species. He was right – I'd only seen a tiny corner of the universe, but already I had met terrible cruelty as well as intense beauty, and not just during my few travels with the Doctor. Humans provided a contrast enough on their own with their interactions with nature and those of different religion or ethnicity.

"I'm surprised that English is such a common language, though," I realized. "The Slitheen spoke English, Reuxar spoke English, and now the Supervisor did too."

"About that . . . The Slitheen and Reuxar really were speaking English, but the Supervisor was _not._"

"Then how did I understand him? I wasn't speaking a different language, was I?" I asked.

"You were speaking Vukanian," the Doctor said, grinning happily. "Good, isn't it? The TARDIS, she translates alien speech. Writing, too. You won't even notice it happening, you'll just understand things."

"But what would it sound like when we were talking to someone who _didn't_ understand?"

"You'd sound like a penguin."

I stared at the Doctor. "Like a penguin? We were speaking penguin!" I exclaimed.

"Nah, the penguins are speaking Vukanian, not the other way around. That's actually the penguins' home planet, Vuke, I heard a rumour once from a man with neon white skin and three eyes, by the way, that the Vukanians used to bring penguins as a peace offering to every planet they visited, still do actually, but what you _really_ won't believe is where tigers come from-"

As the Doctor continued rambling, only one thing made it through to my mind. "Neon white?" I exclaimed. "There's no such thing as neon white!"

"There is, actually, beautiful color, little hard on the eyes, though, not very good for clothing. I saw a street once painted neon white and polished so much that it would blind anyone who looked at it, I had to go around with a bucket of dirt before anyone could go outside again-"

I laughed as I listened to the Doctor's story, and I didn't even realize that he had brought us back to Earth until he ended his tirade on the injustice of the can-opener being invented years after the can on multiple different planets and had leaned back against the console.

"Well then," I said, standing up from where I had automatically sat on a seat next to the TARDIS' console and nodding slightly to myself. "I guess that's mission accomplished. Until the next time, Doctor."

"Until the next time, Nelson," he replied, grinning.

Smiling, I walked outside and closed the door. Since I was already here, I started to inspect the material the TARDIS was made out of. It was amazing how much it looked like wood. Not only did it look life it, it felt like it, but how could simple wood do something as crazy as travelling through time and space? Of course, I hadn't really travelled through time yet, and only very briefly through-

"So that's what he was doing," I heard Martha say behind me. Startled out of my thoughts, I jumped around to face her.

"Oh, hey, Martha," I said. "Yeah, we kind of took a detour to outer space."

"Do anything interesting?" she asked, smiling widely.

"Oh, you know, talked to the supervisor of Prince Pjhalinad the third of the Vukanian empire, learned that the Doctor is over nine-hundred years old, and went into outer space. Nothing unusual," I joked.

Martha laughed. "It's good to see you again," she said.

"Thanks," I said, surprised. "Is there, um, any particular reason?"

"There is, actually. Did the Doctor tell you about what we've been doing the last year?" Martha asked.

"Well, he did mention that the Earth was taken over, but that you guys reversed everything that had happened," I replied.

"You were there," Martha said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We didn't see you much, but towards the end . . . " She shuddered. "The person we were fighting, the Master, he . . . well, he executed you in front of the Doctor and I."

"Oh." I shook my head slightly. "Not all tea and biscuits, then?"

"No, but at least you're okay now," Martha said, smiling.

I shuffled my feet, starting to get uncomfortable. "Martha . . . I should probably tell you . . . You're from my future. This is just the second time I've met you - I'm so sorry," I said, feeling terrible at seeing the upset look on her face.

"Oh," she said, nodding slightly and staring at the ground. "Okay."

"With the way things are going, though, we're bound to meet again," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"No, actually, we're not. I'm about to leave the Doctor, so this is goodbye. And you're my friend . . . but I'm not your friend yet."

"Can I do anything to help?" I asked.

"No," Martha replied, looking up at me. "Just remember this: when the Doctor and I leave so I can visit my family, that's the last time you'll see me. It was right before the year that we undid. I'm thinking back to it now, and now that I know what that goodbye meant, I feel better already. It's really okay." She smiled and then paused for a moment. "Goodbye, Nelson," she said, hugging me suddenly. "And, thank you again. You'll know why."

Although I didn't know Martha particularly well, as I held her I felt strangely sad. She was from my future, when we were friends, and I knew that I would have to meet her and the Doctor again before she had decided to leave and before the terrible year for them. Knowing what was in store and not saying anything was going to be difficult.

"Goodbye, Martha," I said as she stepped back. "I wish you all the luck in the world, and maybe in a few others too." I smiled.

"Thanks," Martha replied, laughing. As I turned and started walking away, I heard the TARDIS door open and close behind me.

Wow. Today had certainly been a crazy day. One thing was clear about the direction that my life was heading in – it would not be easy. I would become friends with those I had already lost, be confronted by those wishing to do evil, and likely go through a lot of physical pain. It would, however, be the adventure of a lifetime, and I was ready for it!

.

After having walked home, I opened the door to my apartment – flat – and turned on the lights. I stood there for a moment, running my eyes over the furniture and thinking about my goals in life. Currently, I didn't have many. Already, I was just waiting for the Doctor to come back, wishing another adventure was underway.

Huh. Who would have thought that living a normal life would become more difficult than one filled with aliens, disappearing cars, preventing the polar ice caps from melting, and being attacked, sort of, in the park.

Sighing, I headed to the kitchen to fix myself some dinner.


	4. Trouble with a Removal Officer

**Disclaimer: **Let's keep it simple this time - I do not own the rights to Doctor Who.

**Author's Note: **Couple things. First of all, as the 10th Doctor would say, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry for taking two weeks to post another chapter! If it makes you feel any better, this one is longer than the first two combined and sets up a couple of major plotlines, one of which is extremely obvious while the other is decidedly not.

The second thing is that this is the last time for quite a while that I'm going to ask for reviews. I really don't want to beg for them, so I'm just going to say again that they would be extremely helpful and encouraging, because currently I have no idea what anyone thinks of this story _at all_, but I do know that people are reading it. That's all! =)

**Pronunciation Key: **Jamikamar = self explanatory,Washxar = wash-car, RO-2 = ro-two.

4 – Trouble with a Removal Officer

Considering how anxious I was for the Doctor's return just by the time I got back to my apartment, it felt like forever before I saw him again. In a way, though, things were better for it. After two weeks had dragged by without seeing my unusual friend, I started to realize that I needed to have something in my life to come back to from the Doctor's crazy adventures, something to make my normal life mean something. My family was back in the United States, I had no other good friends, and, although I enjoyed my job, I didn't love working at the library. I knew I could always go and get involved in the community if I just wanted more friends, but that's not what I wanted. I realized that I wanted something meaningful, and that's when I met her.

It was not love at first sight, not by any means, it was a lot more like interest at first sight. When a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and big brown eyes walked into the library for the first time one Monday morning, I couldn't help but notice that she was good-looking. It wasn't just that, though – I also couldn't help but notice that she really just seemed nice. I was kind of nervous by the time she approached my desk to check out the books she had found, but as we talked idly while I worked, I relaxed and started to really enjoy talking with her.

The next Monday, when she came to the library again, I spotted her instantly, and she came to my desk to check out her books just like the last week. Every Monday after that when she stopped by, I would learn a little bit more about her, and she started recognizing me more and more. Seven weeks after I had seen the Doctor last, I knew that her name was Clara Oswin Oswald, that she was a school teacher, that she was intelligent, funny, kind, and, as embarrassing as this was to admit, that I had a huge crush on her.

Another week passed, a week during which I debated a _lot_ about what to do when I saw Clara the next time. I was so very, very tempted to ask her out, but I was nervous about being rejected. I hardly knew her, after all. When Monday of the eight week finally arrived and I saw Clara walk in and start looking for her books for that week, my conflict of emotions only got worse.

"Hi, Nelson," she said cheerfully as she approached my desk and set down an armful of books.

"Hi, Clara," I replied, relaxing immediately. "How are you enjoying the books you got last week?"

"I've been reading them, but I haven't really had enough time to enjoy them, y'know?" Clara said.

"Sure," I replied. "Wow, does a book genre exist that you don't have in this pile?" I laughed, indicating her books.

"If there is, I'll have to go get some!" she joked.

I laughed again. "Would you mind if I asked why you've been getting so many books?" I asked.

"No, 'course not - I've been volunteering to work with deaf children, and I've run out of books to read to them," she replied, a sly smile creeping its way onto her features.

"Hey, I do that too!" I joked, eliciting a laugh that made my knees wobble slightly.

"To answer your question, I'm trying to find a book that I like – one that I _really_ like," Clara said. "I have the strangest feeling that there's a book out there that I absolutely love, but I can't remember for the life of me what it is, and it's not at home. So, here I am, trying to find a book I can't remember!"

"A noble pursuit," I said genuinely. Clara smiled widely at me.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Well, all done," I said, not wanting Clara to leave but running out of ways to stall. As I stacked up the books and slid them across to her, I started to panic, knowing that this was my only chance until next week to ask her out.

"Thanks again. I'll see you next Monday," Clara said, waving slightly and turning to leave.

"Wait!" I blurted out. "Would- would you . . . " I stumbled over myself. Seeing her turn back and smile patiently, I took a deep breath, looked her in the eye, and was just about to ask her out when a red haired woman walked over to my desk and unceremoniously dropped a book on it. Startled and more than slightly annoyed, I stared at the newcomer for a moment.

"Well?" she prompted. "Are you going to get your little scanny thing and let me take my book or sit there staring at me all day?"

"Oh, right," I said, starting to do my job. "Sorry."

After I had given the woman her book back, I was fully expecting her to leave the building, but instead she walked back into the right wing of the library. Just as I was going to forget about her, I heard the woman mutter grumpily to herself: "where's the Doctor gotten off to this time?"

Knowing full well that if the Doctor was here I wouldn't have another quiet moment to speak with Clara, I took a another deep breath and turned back to her just as I saw the alien himself stroll out of the library's left wing and spot me.

"Nelson!" the Doctor cried joyfully, jogging over and clapping me on the shoulder. "Just who I was looking for! Well, no, not really. I'm actually looking for someone else, but I'm happy to see you too," he grinned.

"Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about, she just walked off that way. You could probably catch up to her if you go right now," I said, trying to shoo him away. Just as he walked into the library's right wing, the woman came strolling up to me from the left wing, an annoyed expression on her face.

"If you're looking for the Doctor, he just went the same way you did a moment ago, so you could probably backtrack and catch him," I told her, trying to get a moment alone with the now very bemused Clara.

"Thanks," she said, making an about-face and walking into the left wing again. No sooner had she rounded the corner than the Doctor came back from right wing looking moderately confused.

"Couldn't find her," he said to me, shrugging.

"Yes, I just sent her back the other way looking for you," I told the Doctor, exasperated. "Maybe you should go out to the TARDIS and come back in an hour, when I'm done working," I suggested.

Shrugging again, the Doctor turned and left the building. About that same time, the woman came back to my desk, looking thoroughly frustrated.

"I just sent him out to the TARDIS," I told her, gesturing outside. Nodding, she left as well and I sagged against my desk. "Phew," I said to Clara, wiping my brow in an exaggerated fashion. "That was confusing."

"I'll say," Clara replied. "What's a TARDIS?"

"It's gone, that's what it is!" the woman said angrily before I could reply. I hadn't even noticed her coming back.

Sighing, I turned to face her. "What do you mean it's gone?"

"I mean," she snapped. "That it has _vanished_."

"I'll see you next Monday," I said apologetically to Clara before eying the redheaded woman warily. I wasn't sure how much I liked her.

"Okay," Clara smiled at me, leaving. I watched her walk away until the woman snapped her fingers in my face, drawing my attention.

"Where did the TARDIS go?" she demanded.

I sighed heavily. "I told the Doctor that he should go out to the TARDIS and then come back in an hour. I meant for him to meet you there, but I guess he immediately left for," I glanced at my watch, "fifty-three minutes from now."

"I'm supposed to wait around here for _fifty-three minutes_?"

"It's a library," I snapped, losing my patience. "Read your book and be quiet."

Huffing, the woman left and I smiled apologetically at the line of people who were waiting on me.

"So sorry," I said.

.

After I had finished my shift fifty-three minutes later, the woman and I walked out to where she claimed the TARDIS was, but we couldn't find it. After standing around in the sun another for half of an hour, the TARDIS finally materialized and the Doctor stepped out, grinning.

"Hello," he said cheerfully. "That was a fast hour."

"Hour and a half, and not for some of us!" the woman groused, hitting the Doctor on the arm with her book.

I grinned, amused as the Doctor rubbed his arm. "Did you need something, then?" I asked.

"We were just getting my book," the woman replied before the Doctor had a chance to say anything.

"We're about to head off somewhere, though, wanna come along?" the Doctor asked me.

"You're inviting the _librarian_ to come with us?" the woman asked incredulously.

"I've met the Doctor before, you know!" I replied, starting to get seriously annoyed by this woman.

"Well obviously, if you know about the TARDIS!" she countered.

"No, no fighting!" the Doctor shouted over us. "I know you two can get along, but only if you agree to stop arguing. Donna, this is Nelson. I've met him-" he shot a quick glance at me, "numerous other times, and he's gone travelling with me before. Nelson, this is Donna, my companion."

"Hello, then," Donna said, sticking her hand out for me to shake.

"Hello, Donna, pleased to meet you," I replied, accepting her offer and shaking hands. "Would you mind if I went along for a quick trip?" I asked her.

"Nah," she said, suddenly much friendlier. "Might be kind of fun, actually."

"Brilliant, then!" the Doctor exclaimed, grinning and leading the way into the TARDIS. He opened the door, allowing Donna inside but holding me back a moment. "What happened when you last met me?" he asked.

"We were investigating the disappearing cars and met Prince Pjhalinad the third's supervisor," I said.

"Me too," the Doctor nodded, following me inside the TARDIS.

As soon as I stepped inside, I remembered just how amazing the Doctor's spaceship really was. Being bigger on the inside was certainly impressive, especially once you knew about the innumerable corridors and the many, many rooms it contained, but the welcoming feel, cool temperature, and gentle hum of the TARDIS made it feel like home.

"It's good to see you again," I said fondly, patting the console and feeling a slight vibration in return.

"Would you feel that, she likes you!" the Doctor said, noticing the vibration.

I smiled. "Doctor, as much as I like the TARDIS, she can't like or dislike people. She's a machine."

"She is not! Okay, well, she is, but the TARDIS is also alive," the Doctor replied.

"No way," I said, but, seeing the Doctor's sincere expression, I did a double take. "Really?"

"Yup," he said. "And she's willing to take us anywhere – where do you want to go? We could visit Raxacoricofallapatorius and see how the Slitheens I've turned into eggs are doing, investigate the disappearance of a grand master of a game similar to chess after winning a tournament against a Jamikamar gang, or explore the depths of the Washxar forest!"

"None," Donna replied immediately.

"What's wrong with all of those?"

"They're boring. We can visit a nursery, look for someone dumb enough to beat the alien _mafia_ at chess, or go camping – no thanks!" she said.

"I'd like to see some sort of futuristic technology, maybe something in robotics," I mused aloud.

"Oh! We could go to the year 3002 and see the first robotic bouncers!" the Doctor realized happily.

"Bouncers? Robotic bouncers?" I repeated.

"Sure, why not? Well, singular, bounc_er_, there's only one original. Well, there _were_ two, but before the first one got to do anything someone poured alcohol on it and short-circuited the systems. The second one was fixed to be waterproof and had a small software patch, but, just for good measure, it was moved from the nightclub it worked at to a gym instead," the Doctor explained.

"Well, I'm game," I said.

"Yeah, okay," Donna agreed.

"Perfect, molto bene, allons-y!" the Doctor grinned as he made his way around the console, inputting the coordinates and throwing the dematerialization lever. Around the time that the TARDIS normally settled down with a slight jolt, instead there was a burst of flame at the console and the TARDIS jerked strongly to the left, rocking back and forth drastically.

"What's happening?" I shouted as I was thrown against the railing.

"I don't know! Something is interfering with the TARDIS' materialization matrix circuits - we're crashing!" the Doctor yelled back, hanging onto the console and working frantically at the controls.

"Well, do something!" Donna yelled, clutching the console for dear life.

"I'm trying, but something is repelling us!" Moving quickly, the Doctor spun a few dials and hit a metal plate with his rubber mallet, causing the TARDIS to jerk one last time and then be still.

"Nice flying," I commented sarcastically, picking myself up off the ground.

"Thanks," the Doctor said genuinely, letting out a deep breath.

"Where are we?" Donna asked.

"Well, we're exactly where we want to be, the only problem is that the TARDIS is fried," the Doctor said, fiddling with the controls and completely ignoring the fact that the console was smoking, almost as if it were completely normal. Was it?

"What do you need to fix her?" I asked, thinking of all of the exotic and hard to find ship parts there must be in the galaxy, not to mention for a ship like the TARDIS, which I assumed is pretty rare. I began dreading the undoubtedly immense task lying before us that was repairing the destroyed, broken down, ruined-

"Just a box of fuses," the Doctor replied casually.

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Really?" I asked, surprised.

"So go grab some from storage room seventy-one, or wherever you keep them, and then let's go visit the robot!" Donna said, anxious to explore.

"Actually we can leave right now, I'm all out of fuses, but I'm sure we can pick some up at the gym."

"Honestly, I'm surprised that they're still using fuses in 3002 and whenever the TARDIS is from. Haven't they, I dunno, advanced?" I asked.

"Oh, they have. Fuses are only ever used in spaceships by this time, where they can't siphon off extra electricity particularly cheap. On any sort of planet, though, they aren't necessary," the Doctor explained.

"But then why would a _gym_ have fuses if they're only used on _spaceships?_" Donna questioned.

"Because this is no ordinary gym. It's not a ship, but it is an entire moon – the surface is only for parking, the actual gym lies beneath the ground. It is the _number one_ hub of exercise in the future, and millions of people travel here every year from all over the galaxy just to run the obstacles courses with different levels of gravity. There's Earth gravity, low gravity, even zero and anti-gravity obstacle courses," the Doctor explained, leading the way to the TARDIS doors. "Now, it's very busy here, so stay close together and _don't get lost_," he warned sternly before throwing the doors open with a grin and being greeted by the smiling faces of absolutely nobody.

"Wow, it's so busy here," Donna said sarcastically, stepping out into the completely empty spaceport. "Quick! Throw me a lifeline!" she begged in mock desperation.

Snorting, I followed Donna out and viewed my surroundings. There wasn't a single person in sight, and the dramatic view of my first spaceport was shockingly underwhelming - without any ships, it bore a strong resemblance to an average parking lot. To top that off, just short walk away there was an average looking gym entrance, nothing unusual about it at all. As boring as I was finding the moon, however, I began to fully appreciate the TARDIS' travelling capabilities with one look at the sky - I was well and truly not in the solar system. I couldn't see any stars, thanks to the well-lit spaceport, but there were two planets in the sky and a single sun that was just setting.

"So how does that work?" I asked the Doctor, indicating the sky. "Two planets orbiting each other and only one satellite? Won't the moon's orbit be unstable?"

"No, actually," the Doctor said, hands in his pockets and admiring the view with me. "Everything is aligned just _perfectly_ here so that this moon, Voon, will take a path in between the planets and loop around in a figure eight pattern. It works very well, actually, each planet's occupants get one month of unusually high tides and one month of unusually low tides, and what better place to build the ultimate gym than the ultimate moon?"

"The ultimate gym on the ultimate moon with nobody here?" Donna questioned. "Something must have gone wrong and everyone was evacuated."

"Nah, it's probably just a bad time of the day," the Doctor replied, dismissing Donna's question. "Now, shall we go and see the robot bouncer?" he asked, rocking back and forth on his feet excitedly.

"Absolutely," I replied, excited to see my first future robot. "You know, though, that it's probably going to end up bouncing _us_."

"No, we'll behave and be good boys and girls, won't we?" the Doctor said cheerfully as we started walking to the gym entrance.

"Aw, you mean we're not going to be kicked out by the robot bouncer?" Donna pretended to sulk.

"I just want to know who decided to name a moon Voon," I commented as we arrived at the doors and the Doctor tried unsuccessfully to open them.

"Locked," he murmured. Taking a quick look around to be sure that there really was no one in sight, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and unlocked the door, the three of us walking inside and down a flight of stairs.

"It's pretty dark in here," I said once we had reached the bottom, looking around. We were in a circular room with a receptionist's desk right in front of us, the lights were all off, and there were three hallways, one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead.

"There must be a light switch around here somewhere," Donna said, feeling around in the dark until she found one and turned it on. "There, that's better."

I watched as the Doctor meandered over to the desk and started messing with the computer there before voicing a concern I had.

"Doctor, couldn't the gym just be closed right now?"

"I s'pose."

"Then wouldn't they have the bouncer, you know, escort us from the premises?"

"Nah," the Doctor dismissed my idea casually. "If the gym really is closed, they'd have shut down all of the robot personnel too. But . . ." he trailed off as he started reading something on the computer screen. "That's not why everyone is gone."

"What is it?" Donna asked, looking over his shoulder. "Uh-oh."

"What?" I asked.

"There's a notice here made yesterday that the gym has been locked down until the Shadow Proclamation can arrive and fix whatever's going on," the Doctor said. "It doesn't say what it is - we should really-"

"GET OUT!" a gruff male voice bellowed angrily.

Startled, the Doctor jumped and spun around, looking warily down the hallway across from the stairs.

"GET OUT NOW OR I WILL THROW YOU FROM THE PREMISES!" the voice shouted, getting closer.

"Told you," I said.

"Let me guess," Donna said. "The bouncer?"

"Yup," the Doctor replied, popping the p.

"Brilliant," she replied.

"C'mon let's get out of here," the Doctor said, hurrying us over to the doors as a featureless humanoid robot armoured with white plating walked around a bend in the hallway and started marching towards us at a rapid pace.

"IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO LEAVE AGAIN, I WILL SMASH YOUR FACE LIKE A WATERMELON!" it yelled.

"That's violent," I muttered. "Doctor can you hurry it up a little?" I prompted as he tried to open the doors with his sonic again only to find them stuck.

"I'm trying to, but when I broke in during a lockdown the security system must have deadlocked the doors shut!" he cried, finally giving up and turning back to face the bouncer.

"YOU'RE STILL HERE_?_ LEAVE _RIGHT NOW_!"

"No, listen, the doors are sealed, we can't get out!" the Doctor tried reasoning with the very angry robot as it got progressively closer.

"YOU HAVE ONE LAST CHANCE!"

"No stop, listen to us, we're locked in!" he shouted.

"THAT'S IT – IT'S GO TIME!"

"Wait, no, stop!" the Doctor yelled.

"Quit reasoning with the robot and get over here!" Donna shouted. Startled, I realized that she had left our side and was standing in the hallway to our right. If we ran now, we might be able to get there before the bouncer got to us. Wasting no time, the Doctor and I did as Donna ordered and started sprinting down the hallway.

"RUNNING? NOT ONCE I BREAK YOUR LEGS!" I heard the robot bouncer scream as it started running after us.

"Keep going!" the Doctor yelled, but I wasn't in very good shape and I knew that I couldn't run for long.

"We can't outrun this thing, it's faster than we are!" Donna shouted. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw that she was right – the robot was rapidly gaining on us.

"Into the office, then!" the Doctor responded, yanking open a door with a "Staff Only" sign on it and ushering us in. Once we were all inside, the Doctor slammed the door shut and locked it with his sonic screwdriver. A moment later I heard an almighty crash and the door dented inwards in the silhouette of the robot.

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM ME! I WILL FIND YOU, AND THEN YOU'RE IN BIG, BIG TROUBLE!" it shouted.

"Can it get in?" I asked as I heard the robot hitting the door over and over as hard as it could.

"I don't think so," the Doctor replied. "Even so, we shouldn't stay here for long."

"Doctor," Donna said. "Look at this." When I turned around, I saw that she had found numerous diagrams of the robot bouncer and a computer labeled "Software Engineer Makenzie."

"Donna, you are _brilliant!"_ the Doctor exclaimed, taking a quick look at the diagrams before dismissing them and turning to the computer. I glanced at the diagrams myself, but they were rather straightforward and didn't give a lot of useful information. When I looked back up I saw that the Doctor had already bypassed the password on the computer with his screwdriver and was browsing through some computer code.

"What's that?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"This," he replied. "Is the source code for the software that runs the bouncer. Well, RO-2, that's its name. Well, its designation."

"What are you looking for?" I asked, trying to ignore the bangs as our pursuer attempted to get in.

"Mostly why it's so mad at us," the Doctor said.

"But also . . . " I prompted.

"Also if it will kill us."

"You don't think it would?" Donna asked in disbelief.

"Sure sounds like it," the Doctor replied, obviously referring to the obscenities and very descriptive ways we were going to be destroyed being screamed at us through the door.

"That thing does have quite a mouth on it," I commented, amused but also kind of scared.

Relative silence settled as the Doctor continued his search through RO-2's source code, and my concern grew for the door's integrity. After a few more minutes, the Doctor suddenly pushed back from the computer and ran his hands through his hair.

"Gah! There's nothing here that's useful!" he exclaimed angrily. Sitting back, he looked at Donna and I with a resigned look on his face.

"There's got to be _something_," Donna insisted.

"Not in the source code," the Doctor replied.

I paused for a moment, considering a possibility.

"Doctor," I said.

"Hmm?"

"Was the source code from before or after the small software patch they made?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but then, thinking better of it, closed it again. Raising his eyebrows, he turned back to the computer and opened up the patch code. Grinning, the Doctor shot me a proud look.

"The source code was from _before_ the software patch – Nelson, you're a genius!" he praised, turning back to the computer and started scrolling through the code. "Oh yes!" he exclaimed. "Mistake number one – forgetting to reset a value!"

"And for those of us who aren't programmers?" Donna prompted.

"Think of it like this," the Doctor began to explain, facing Donna and I again. "You have an empty glass, and when someone causes trouble, you add some water to the glass. At this time, RO-2 steps in and tries to get rid of the troublemaker. If they resist, a little bit more water is added, and RO-2 gets just a little bit more forceful. The longer they resist, the more water is added, until finally they're thrown out and the water is dumped out of the glass. Then, when the next person causes trouble, it starts all over again. Only, the water isn't dumped out in this patch they made. They somehow deleted it – just one little line of code left out, but after someone causes trouble, RO-2 doesn't calm down, and it starts going after everyone, because once its target is gone it finds a new one."

"How violent will it get?" I asked.

"There aren't any scripted reactions, it's programmed to react according to how full the 'glass of water' gets, which doesn't have a limit, so theoretically it will get as violent as it has to to get everyone out."

"So say it starts throwing people out, or even killing them," Donna said. "Why didn't they just shut it down?"

"RO-2 is specifically designed to be resilient against pretty much everything they would have on-hand, so the only means they would have had to shut it down would be located right here, in this room, but maybe they couldn't get in here in time," the Doctor said, and then started to grin. "Brilliant, I can shut it down just by using the computer right here."

"NOT IF I KILL YOU FIRST!" RO-2 screamed, finally knocking down the surprisingly robust door and charging inside the room.

"Out, now!" the Doctor yelled, shoving us to the other door in the room, running after us and down the first corridor we saw.

"I MAY NOT HAVE CAUGHT YOU YET, BUT AS SOON AS I DO I'LL BE KICKING YOUR FACE IN!"

"Get a grip," I muttered as we ran. I wasn't sure if anyone had at one point in time written what RO-2 was now saying, but if they did, they had altogether too much fun doing it.

"Quick, in here!" the Doctor yelled, dashing inside the only door in sight. I followed him in and was surprised to find myself inside a kitchen, Donna right behind me. There wasn't another exit, and I was horrified when I turned to lock the door and found that there was no lock. Instead, I did the only thing I could do – I got in front of the door and braced myself against it. Realizing what the situation was, the Doctor and Donna braced themselves against the door as well.

"GET OUT!" RO-2 screamed, ramming into the door and throwing us all to the ground. As quickly as they could, the Doctor and Donna barred the door again.

"Okay, we _really_ need a plan," the Doctor said. "Nelson, what is there in here that we can use?"

"Nothing!" I exclaimed, searching the room frantically as the Doctor and Donna were thrown to the floor again. "There's just a bunch of water and canned foods!"

"Well we need a plan!" Donna yelled, bracing herself against the door again. "Just say whatever pops into your head!"

Instantly, my mind went blank. I couldn't think of anything, and I had to make a conscious effort to search for any sort of escape route or method to fight back, no matter how silly, how outrageous, how useless it was, but I couldn't think of a single thing. Suddenly, though, I felt as though I'd reached a genius conclusion, I just couldn't put into words what my subconscious had figured out. I delved deep, searching for what it was, and, not thinking about what I was saying, shouted it out loud in the joy of remembrance.

"Golfing!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms out.

The Doctor's jaw dropped.

"Golfing!" he shrieked. "Golfing? Golfing . . . Hey, golfing, golfing! Nelson, that's absolutely brilliant!"

"What are you on about?" Donna yelled as the two of them were thrown to the floor yet again.

"Quick, get back!" the Doctor exclaimed, hauling Donna to her feet and herding us to the back of the room, grabbing a bottle of water and an empty can on the way.

"What are you gonna do, give the robot a little demonstration of your 'imagine a glass of water' lecture?" Donna asked skeptically.

"Do you think that would work?" the Doctor asked, ignored the look Donna gave him.

I shook my head, watching as the Doctor started pouring water into the can. "So, what exactly was it that you figured out?" I asked.

"Well, I can't take all the credit," the Doctor replied, seeming satisfied and tossing the water bottle away, now holding a very full can of water. "You've been very helpful." He looked over at me and grinned.

"He suggests _golf_, you go and fill up a can with water, and now we're waiting for an angry robot to come in here and kill us," Donna summarized in an exasperated tone. "Remind me again where the plan is in all of that."

Before the Doctor could explain anything, RO-2 burst through the door and charged at us, full speed.

"HERE COMES THE PAIN TRAIN, BABY, WOO WOO!" it screamed.

I shuddered, imagining all of the horrific ways this furious robot might kill us, but, just before RO-2 slammed into us, the Doctor hurled the can of water right into its face and it stumbled.

"Doctor, it's water-proof!" I exclaimed.

"Not entirely, it's stunned, but only momentarily. Run!" he yelled, shoving us past the groggy robot and leading the way down the corridor. "We need to make a little detour first!" he said.

"A detour _first?_ I don't even know where we're going after that!" I yelled, starting to pant heavily from the day's exertions.

"YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" I heard RO-2 shout from behind us, and I glanced back.

"Hey!" I shouted at it when it made a rude gesture at me.

"Stop arguing with the bloody robot and keep running!" Donna yelled as I glared at RO-2.

"In here!" the Doctor shouted, dashing through a door into a miniature golf course, snatching a golf club and running out the door on the other side.

"You're seriously going to use a golf club for whatever your plan is?" I yelled.

"Yep, and when I stop running, keep going!" the Doctor shouted back.

After what felt like an eternity of running, the Doctor burst through a door at the end of a hallway and, somehow, jumped six or seven feet, landing lightly and turning back to the door. When I followed him out, everything felt . . . Different.

The massive room we were in must have been the obstacle courses the Doctor had been talking about, for there was a series of platforms suspended in the air to climb, but the most impressive part of the room was that it had extremely low gravity, as opposed to the Earth gravity everywhere else. I tried to keep running, but I ended up taking a series of bounds until I had reached the far wall, stopping beside a small glass box containing a bunch of switches and levers.

"Nelson, Donna, are you near a glass box?" the Doctor yelled over to us, still facing the door and holding the golf club like a baseball bat.

"Yeah!" I yelled back.

"You need to lower the gravity to zero and open the roof, the controls should be clearly labeled!" he shouted.

"Okay!" I replied, and Donna and I both turned to the box. "Ugh, it needs I key!"

"Right, stand back," Donna said. Taking off one of her shoes, she used it to hit the glass hard, breaking it.

"That works," I said, stepping forward as we scanned the controls. We found the ones requested, somehow changing the room to zero gravity and opening the roof, leaving nothing in between us and the emptiness of space.

Just then, RO-2 burst through the door and charged at the Doctor, screaming: "YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Right before the Doctor was bowled over, he swung the golf club up into the robot's chin as hard as he could . . . And propelled RO-2 up into the air, with no gravity to stop it, out into space.

"NO! NOOOO!" it shouted, flailing its arms and legs in a futile attempt to grab one of the platforms, but it was too far away. As soon as it had risen high enough, I closed the roof again, trapping the maniacal robotic bouncer outside.

"Haha!" the Doctor shouted triumphantly, pushing off against the ground and drifting over to Donna and I. "Oh, I've wanted to do that for ages!"

"Who hasn't?" I joked tiredly, unsuccessfully trying to lean against the wall and looking forward to a good night's sleep.

"Come on, let's get those fuses," Donna said, trying valiantly to walk normally out of the room.

I shrugged at the Doctor. "Personally, I'm gonna embrace zero gravity." Shoving off hard against the wall, I grinned as I zoomed across the room.

.

After we had gathered armfuls of fuses, gravity back to normal, marched back to the TARDIS, and gotten her all patched up and ready to go, Donna mentioned that it was probably time she went and visited her granddad again. When we had travelled back to Earth, she promised she would be back soon, apparently not wanting to be spotted by her mum, and then left. As we waited, the Doctor wandered around the console, idly readjusting the controls, and I watched, trying to figure out which control did what. Suddenly, he stopped and leaned against the console, facing me.

"Nelson," he began, looking moderately uncomfortable. "I've already asked you if you wanted to travel with me once. I don't want to keep asking," he said quickly. "But I do want you to know that when, or if! If you do ever want to come with me, you can, you know. Say so."

I smiled, nodding. "Okay, I will. Thanks, Doctor."

Grinning, he continued fiddling with the controls until Donna returned about twenty minutes later.

"I'm back," she said. "Where next?"

"For me, home," I said. "And preferably on the same day that I left and in the evening."

"London, England, Earth, the Solar System," the Doctor ticked off on his fingers, grinning at Donna before transporting us across town and just six hours after I had left earlier that day. Once the TARDIS had settled, the three of us walked outside and admired our surroundings. We were at a street corner, car headlights lighting the night and engines filling the air with a gentle humming – not as impressive of a sight as Voon's sky was, but somehow very peaceful.

"I hope you live nearby," the Doctor commented. "I'm not really sure what your address is."

I laughed. "You could say that I live pretty close by, yeah – my, uh, flat is right over there," I said, pointing just across the street.

"Oh. Perfect, then." He grinned. I nodded, grinning back.

"Doctor, Donna," I said, shaking their hands in turn.

"Been called that before," the Doctor whispered conspiratorially to Donna, who laughed. I didn't get what he meant, but I laughed anyways at the possibilities.

"Anyways, feel free to stop by anytime, except during work hours and _especially _not on Mondays," I encouraged.

"Who was the woman earlier?" Donna asked, smiling.

"Clara," I replied, blushing slightly.

"Okay, I'll make sure that the Doctor doesn't stop by on Mondays, then," she said.

"What? Why?" the Doctor asked obliviously, looking back and forth from Donna and I.

"Just get inside, allons-y and all that," Donna said, shoving the Doctor inside the TARDIS and ignoring his protests. "Good luck," she added to me with a wink before stepping inside herself and closing the door.

I grinned, watching the TARDIS dematerialize before heading home. As I ate dinner that night, I realized something surprising. Usually my thoughts were focused solely on the adventure I'd just had after leaving the Doctor, but tonight I was thinking about something, or rather, some_one_ else.

Clara.


End file.
